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Keri, Sorry it's been a long while since you posted this. Congrats on getting your machine running! Persistence paid off! Good job!

Looks a lot like a Singer 31-15 or 31-20 Taylor's machine to me. Does not appear to have walking foot. Is that correct?

Hi Keri, Congrats on your new machine. I'm sorry, I am not near my machine at the moment, we had a pipe burst in my shop and stuff is in storage until we get finished and set back up again. I do see what you mentioned about your replacement part being different than the original part. I will say I've had that happen a few times! So what I usually do is put the parts back in that fit and only replace the necessary part(s). If you can get away with only replacing the spring and the discs, that might make it come together better? Just an idea. Hopefully you remember how you took out the other one. Don't bang it!

Stewart, I love the colors and the subjects that you use in your work, such fun and creative stuff! Also, I will join the others in saying "Congratulations" to you and your new Love! I'm all for HAPPINESS, married or not. It's good to have a partner in this life! Best wishes to you as you happily go about your chores! LOL. Thanks for sharing your creativity with everyone here!

Sometimes you can take it out and bend it until it works, but takes removing and installing it a few times to get it just right. Not a bad idea to just order another one though, so you have one either way.

Love it! Looks like Spring!

Hello Runamuck, The Bernina 217 is a really nice machine. The one with the cam box on back and the cams are a bit harder to find. I used to have a Chandler 217, which is basically the same machine. I recall that the hook was very expensive at one point, as mine had broken and I was having a hard time with the idea of spending hunddreds of dollars to replace it, so ended up selling. Then a Company called "Global" started making that model machine again, and the prices on the hooks came down quite a bit. So search for Global and see if any parts are interchangeable for the Bernina 217 you have. I think your machine has a fairly long stitch and a fairly wide zig zag stitch, which is nice. For weight of thread, I think I was using v69 poly. It may take a heavier thread, not sure if you would have to put a heavier weight tension spring and/or other beefier arts on it to handle heavier threads, but something to consider anyhow. If you got a good price on that machine and it runs, I think you got a nice machine for light to mid-weight leathers and canvas work.

Oops, I forgot to mention, sometimes a hoop is not needed at all to mount the leather work prior to embroidering or stitching your pattern/design. Sometimes you can just simply run a design without too much prep work and you get a great result. Again, test with different backings first on a scrap to know for sure what will work. Try different needles and threads too. you may find that a regular round tip needle works just fine, or you may want to try a diamond shape/tipped needle. One of the other things I'd found in experimenting with small stitch patterns is that you can sometimes sew with the bobbin thread in the top of the machine and a much fancier/thicker thread in the bobbin area. Suprisingly, this is sometimes the best way to sew a very thick and/or ornamental embroidery thread. You obviously won't get too much of it into the bobbin area, but you may be able to make it work if you are sewing designs on smaller things like watch bands. Good luck!!!

Constabulary, Sorry I don't understand the language used on the website you have posted. I'm not wanting to click any of the boxes (cookies) because I wouldn't know what I was clicking on or agreeing to. However, I do know about embroidery on domestic machines and on industrial machines, have done it both ways. The domestic machines (older/antique) sometimes have built in embroidery stitches and sometimes the embroidery stitches formed by use of a cam or disc inserted into the machine. The embroidered stitch or design on these machines is usually a small repeat pattern or design. Could be a simple zig zag stitch, might be a tulip or something slightly fancier sewn in a repeating fashion without any jumps, stops or trims. This sounds like what you might be referring to, as you mention using this type of decorative stitching for watch straps. Yes! That could be done for sure! I agree with Gunnarson who mentioned you would want to be careful not to land stitches too close together to avoid perforation of the leather. Good point and true! The only way to know for sure is to test, I always ask a Customer for a scrap of the leather I'm going to embroider on so I can test it before doing the actual piece. Backings are important, so is the method of mounting the leather piece into the hoop prior to embroidering. You want to be sure you are not stretching the piece out, so as not to distort or stretch the leather while embroidering. In the experimental stage, I test which backings that work best, if any. Sometimes I use no backing at all. Sometimes a tear-away backing, sometimes a cut away backing. I hope that helps you some. There are much fancier designs that can be done, but my answer involves just simple patterns and/or designs, as it sounds like that is what you are asking about. I have multi-needle Industrial embroidery machines that can run for hours with many thread color changes built into the designs. I can do full jacket backs, and also smaller designs that have lots of details. That's all good for Customers who want to pay more for the fancy stuff, but I still use a domestic machine every now and then for certain jobs where all they want is a simple repeat pattern. The machines I like for that type of work are my old Kenmore machines (45 years old) with Cams and dial in stitch patterns, and also an older Bernina machine (model 1008). In fact, I love the simplicityand functionality of these machines.

Merry Christmas to you too!

positioning finger

Thanks for the info guys! Much appreciated! I do have a machine shop nearby, but I know I can get replacement parts pretty affordably. One of the members here, Button Lady, is an Osborne Dealer and I believe also a Dealer for Handy?? https://www.workroombuttons.com/view_cart.asp I am asking about thread sizes because I'd just like to know so I can do some fitting myself and make a few attachments. I plan to buy some Osborne stuff for it, but will also likely make my own parts too, there are so many things you can do with these old machines.

Hi Folks, I have an old Defiance brand hand press / arbor press I'm refurbishing. When I acquired it, I found a piece of tubular fabric stuffed into the area between the threaded end of the pin and the disc that was cracked. See pics... Big crack! When I unscrewed the disc from the pin, the fabric came out and I found that the disc will not even screw in at all with the stripped end and the cracked disc. There goes my good deal. LOL. Somewhere somebody has to pay!!! That'll be me! Hopefully some of you are familiar with the machine and can help me out. I know where I can find parts and plan to order soon. However, the weird thing is that none of the Sellers of the parts gives you the actual specs on the size of the threaded rod piece, called a pin. I have even searched Osborne who sells parts that fit this Defiance press as well as their own W-1 press. So, does anybody know the size of the pin (end of the rod with the threads) and the actual thread number? Asking because I'd like to try to find other parts that may fit it but not necessaarily made for the machine. I've included a photo of this part next to a ruler to show that it isn't quite 5/8", looks more like 9/16" to me. I have calipers but not with me. How do I count the threads? H-E-L-P ! Oh, and Thank you for anything you can share. Much appreciated!

SewCool, I get it! Sounds like you want and need a machine soon. I'll admit, I have paid more for (1) machine that I purchased. I was unable to find the exact model I was looking for locally and I searched for years. There were a few that popped up, but I missed out on a couple really great deals because somebody else pulled the trigger faster than I did. So when one finally came up and I was ready to run and pick it up, I paid double the price I was planning on paying for it. It didn't come with a table or a motor, but I had those parts already, so not a big deal. I got a machine sold to me by a retired Industrial machine mechanic and it looked to be in fantastic condition. I was able to run it before testing and Seller guaranteed it. So that was worth it to me! I think you are smart to consider purchasing a Juki as you mentioned above. In the past 15 years I've bought more Juki machines than any other name. So I guess I'd have to say that overall, Juki is my favorite! I currently own six Juki machines. If you have the time to just wait and watch, I agree with others that the right machine is going to come your way. Good luck!!!

Wow! What a treat to see this beautiful old machine in running condition! Nice renovation and you have a really neat shop!